


Nostalgic Remains

by junxouji



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fem!Sehun, Female EXO, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderbending, Married Couple, Non-Chronological, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-20 14:51:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4791392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junxouji/pseuds/junxouji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>nos·tal·gic ; characterized by or exhibiting feelings of nostalgia. \\ in which a cynical high maintenance woman and a disastrously charming man realize all those romantic cliches have made a home in their heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nostalgic Remains

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted the excuse to write more father!Jongin so after seeing all those photos of Jongin carrying around a child and the fact Taeoh is so cute- this happened. I'm bad at writing fluff but gradually getting better.

 

There is the loud wailing and Jongin's eyes peer open as he grumbles something unintelligently under his breath as he sits up staring at the red flashing clock. Beside him in the bed, Sehee hasn't moved an inch. The other is sleeping on her stomach, legs tangled in the sheets and dressed only in those ugly baby blue plaid boxers she always steals from him and a t-shirt. Sehee was tired, and it was Jongin's turn to change Taeoh. There were some mornings his wife would curl into him and beg Jongin to get their son simply because the other hadn't gotten off work until early morning. He leans over and presses a small kiss to the back of Sehee's nape knowing she had spent the morning editing documents for her job that constantly springs things onto her last minute.

 

Jongin pushes himself up as he rubs his eyes and follows the crying into the child's room. Once Taeoh spots his daddy from leaning on the rail of his crib his crying ceases as if he only wanted to be acknowledged in the first place. Jongin smiles and makes a TSKing sound at his son. He scopes him up and presses a small kiss to his forehead as the baby boy gurgles happily. "You were causing all the ruckus just to see your daddy's face, right?" Jongin asks as he laughs a little. Admittedly their son was a bit spoiled. Between Sehee, him, their parents and their friends the boy was always surrounded by constant affection. Though normally the boy was good- mindful, observant and playful. But morning times Taeoh had undoubtedly inherited his mother's grumpiness as he lifts him on his hip and heads to the bathroom to wash his son up.

 

A lot of squealing later and soaking the bathroom floor in soap suds Taeoh runs from the bathroom wrapped securely in a towel as Jongin runs after him with wet spots on his grey t-shirt. "Taeoh!" He says as he manages to catch him and lift him again. "We can play  AFTER you dress. Let's dress you handsomely and make breakfast for mommy."

 

Taeoh nodded though that twinkle in his eye suggested his son had woken in a mischievous mood. Ten minutes of struggling to get the diaper on, followed by blue jeans and a sweater with large printed 'daddy's boy' on it and the pair is heading into the kitchen. Taeoh follows behind Jongin dragging his stuffed animal with him as he curiously watched his daddy circle around the kitchen. He was handed his sippie cup and took a seat by the door, distracted momentarily with his stuffed animal. It gave Jongin the opportunity to crack a few eggs and put on bacon knowing Sehee's morning craving since she had been pregnant with Taeoh was pork. He carefully tried to avoid burning anything. Before Sehee and him had married, they have lived together for a long time. (Something they had never told their parents who were very traditional. And more likely to kill Jongin.) He had gradually upgraded from microwavable foods to stove top. A very modest and simple cook. Once Sehee had went with her close friends for a girl's weekend at a spa resort and Jongin had managed to live on fried eggs and takeout. Something he couldn't do now that Taeoh was around.

 

"Daddy should make heart shaped toasts too." Taeoh says seconds later as he's pulling his dad's pants leg for attention. "Taeoh wanna' help." 

 

Jongin smiles as he picks up the boy and sits him by the toaster and away from the oven as he hands him slices of bread. "Remember how to do it? Put it in and don't touch it until it cools down, okay buddy?" He asks.

 

Taeoh nods as if he knew what he was doing- as though he was a professional toast maker by now. Sure enough the boy does correctly spreading a thin layer of condensed milk with a plastic knife. He smiles faintly because the condensed milk was sweet and a good spread for toast. The heart shaped toast ends up a little lopsided but he knows Sehee would be happy nonetheless. "Taeoh, would you go wake mommy?" It was safer to send the kid to wake his wife than him. Sehee was pretty scary in the morning. 

 

Taeoh is helped down from the counter and running to his parent's bedroom. He hears his son squealing and confessing his early morning love for his mother. Jongin isn't sure when he's going to get to that. The warmth spreads in his chest before he can stop it as he sets the table, bringing the piles of freshly cooked food. Like most couples, Sehee and Jongin had wondered if they would be decent parents. If they could raise properly a son with both enough love and guidance to ensure Taeoh grows into a good person. Despite being spoiled as hell the boy was kind hearted and lived to please his parents. Jongin figures they got lucky despite the boy's streak of mischief. (Like the time he had played pranks on uncle Yifan and auntie Baekyoung to be scolded shortly after his mother.)

 

Minutes later Taeoh comes back to the kitchen hand in hand with his sleepy mother who casts Jongin a small smile and kiss on the cheek before sitting down at the table. Taeoh promptly sits on his mother's lap and shows her excitedly the toast he has made. Sehee is grinning, "You and your daddy are on their way to becoming chefs." She jokes knowing very well that if their son inherits Jongin's inadequacies in the kitchen he wouldn't be anything close to a chef.

 

"Let's just hope you take after your mom in that regard otherwise you're going to be eating toast for the rest of your life." He says back with a small chuckle as he takes his own seat and gestures for them to all eat. 

 

If one thing remained true was at the dinner table there was always silence. Solely due to the fact all three of them shared on quality: loving food. Taeoh is a messy eater, dropping crums which Jongin is surprised their dog Monggu isn't hanging out under the table to catch the boy's fallen treasures. Instead the dog is snoring loudly from his puppy bed in the corner of the living room. 

 

"Don't you have to work today?" Sehee asks after a moment as she looks up. Taeoh eyes glance upwards as if waiting for the answer as well.

 

"Yeah. Though it was my day off there is an emergency report needing to be done if we expect to finish the case on time. I have to go in if I don't want Joonmyun hyung to be burdened." He says slowly and Sehee nods as if it's unavoidable.

 

"I'll do some shopping with Taeoh today then. He needs some supplies for daycare and we're running low on groceries." She says. Taeoh's eyes light up because he knows shopping means that the pretty ajummas will probably sneak him some candies at the small grocer they use. He is grinning a bit too widely when he eats his toast mumbling shortly after, 

 

"Can we give Monggu a walks too mama?" And Sehee wipes a bit of the milk from his face with her thumb with a small nod. Monggu was probably dying to get out to run. "Monggu's girlfriend misses him. Can Auntie Baekyoung come?" He asks with a small dimple grin.

 

"I'll call her and see if she's free to bring Honey." Sehee says. Honey was Yifan and Baekyoung's hyperactive golden retriever despite being much larger than Monggu was their dog's 'girlfriend' according to Taeoh.

 

Jongin smiles fondly as he looks at the two who mean more to him than anyone else in the world. Sometimes he think he has gotten lucky to have caught Sehee’s attention. She had been quite popular at their university with her wit and charm. But  somehow Jongin’s sweet nature had won her over. She’s looking up to him, thoughts mirroring his, wondering how she had gotten  so lucky to have a man who cherished her more than the moon itself and was a great father as well.

 

Sehee’s parents hadn’t liked Jongin at first. They were concerned their daughter might not be properly cared for. But as soon as they started dating, Jongin was aware this was the kind of woman he wanted to later marry. So worked hard to get from his low paying desk job to assisting the owner of the company on important cases. Now he made enough to take of them both but Sehee insisted on keeping her job as well since she could do most of it from home. She wouldn’t admit it but she loved cooking for Jongin when he was tired from work. She adored the entire idea of a domestic housewife because one of her favorite things to do was take care of Jongin. But, naturally before Taeoh had been born she had too much freetime. She enjoyed her job translating documents and drafts (occasionally writing her own original work) for a publishing company. It brought in enough extra cash they could both live comfortably and send money to both of their parents. Not to mention that once Taeoh started attending school that would be a new expense they hadn’t had before.

 

“I am going to go shower.” Jongin says standing at the table. Her husband is very handsome. Tall, tan, and a bright smile always directed at her. Sehee had been skeptical at first knowing handsome men were  trouble . But her Jongin was genuine.

 

“I’ll pack you a lunch and turn some cartoons on for Taeoh.” Sehee says as she helps her son clean up the mess him and his father had made in the kitchen as Jongin disappears back into their room. Brushing strands of blonde hair from her face, she carefully packed Jongin a lunchbox of his favorites. It wasn’t long before he was coming from the bedroom in his suite and a refreshed smile. Jongin presses a small kiss to her lips and then picking up a squealing Taeoh to plant kisses on his face.

 

She  loves him with everything she has, Sehee thinks. She may not  be perfect but the other certainly made her become something better.

  
  
 

Baekyoung is shorter than Sehee, very cute, and bubbly. Sehee didn’t keep many friends but she adored the shorter woman despite her irritating habits. It also helped that Baekyoung adored Taeoh- and anyone who loved her son, she loved just as much. And Taeoh was going through his womanizer stage. Only three and already throwing boyish cute looks to his noonas- Sehee wanted to throttle Baekyoung when the woman encourages her son to flirt. They both sit on a bench watching Taeoh play in the park with the two eager dogs at his feet.

 

“How are you and Jongin? I haven’t seen him much lately.” Baekyoung says sipping her tea with a slight smile.

 

“He works a lot lately. His company is growing and only he can do his job as well as he does it. It doesn’t help he took a lot of time off for Taeoh’s birth and our wedding in the past. He feels like he’s obligated to make it up.” Sehee says.

 

“Jongin still makes a lot of personal time for you and Taeoh though.” Baekyoung adds.

 

“I just wish he wouldn’t tire himself out by doing so. We’re not low on money or struggling so I don’t understand why he feels he needs to. Maybe it’s just manly pride that makes him want to offer everything he can to our son but Taeoh is happy and content. That should be enough.” Sehee says slowly this time.

 

“Have you told him?”

 

“Yes. He apologizes but asks me to allow him to continue overworking himself just a little longer until he’s done with the current project he’s working on. Then he’s going to stop accepting so many proposals.”

 

“Ah, I see. At least he isn’t stubborn. Any time I ask Yifan to make more time for me he just laughs and says he already invests his time in me solely.” Baekyoung pouts some as she sighs. “That man is irritating but I love him. He’s so dumb. Yesterday he was giving Honey a bath and the poor dog got water all over the apartment.”

 

Sehee chuckles because it does sound like something Yifan would do. “Have you told him you’re pregnant yet?” Baekyoung shakes her head.

 

“That man would go crazy at the prospects of being a father. He’s going to worry he’s not good enough and then I’m going to end up hitting him for being dumb. He wants kids so badly but hasn’t have a clue how to do the entire parenting thing.”

 

“I don’t think anyone does until... well you do it.”

 

“That’s what I say. I’ll have to tell him soon because eventually I’m not going to be able to hide it.”

  
  
 

Taeoh had fallen asleep with his hand in a bowl of chips after dinner and his head plastered uncomfortably against his mother’s breast as they watched one of the movies he had been dying to see in their living room with Monggu snoring at their feet.

 

She tried to adjust Taeoh more comfortably on her but the boy remained clinging and just moving back to the position he was in with a heavy breath and barely a twitch of his eyes. Sehee sighed and gave up after a while, allowing her son to rest even if it meant slight discomfort. (After all, he had Jongin’s head and the head was quite heavy.)

 

Jongin got home a little late. He was quietly entering and removing his shoes when Sehee looked up from the TV with a small smile. Most of the time her favorite part of the day was when Jongin got home. His dinner was waiting in the microwave for him and she had been eagerly waiting from him to get home as well. His tie was removed and his jacket slung over his shoulder as he spots his son and wife on the sofa. He smiles some but it’s pretty obvious he’s tired. Sehee gets up then, Taeoh tucked in her arms, as she heads to the child’s room to tuck him under his elephant decorated comforter. Pressing a kiss to his forehead, the small child smiles sleepily mumbling a barely coherent, “ love you mama. ”

 

“I love you too.” She says and smooths down his hair before quietly leaving, shutting the door behind her. Jongin is at the dinner table now quietly eating the dinner she had made. Sehee goes to sit by him, hand relaxing on his shoulder, carefully massaging at the tense skin. A normal woman might worry about extra marital affairs if her husband worked as frequently and long as Jongin- but Sehee was somehow confident that was never the case. When Jongin looked at  her , he only had eyes for  her and it gave her confidence.

 

“I’m sorry I’m late. I wanted to finish up so I didn’t have to come in again tomorrow.” Jongin says with a small smile. “Dinner is great.”

 

“You look worn out. They work you too hard, Jongin.” Sehee says sympathetically, leaning over to give him a small kiss on the corner of his mouth.

 

“They’re why we can afford such a nice place in a good neighborhood. I really want Taeoh to go to the schools around here. It’s worth it in the end.” Jongin says.

 

Sehee frowns a little. “You know I could always pick up more work with the publishing company, if you’d want. It would take off a little of the stress for you.”

 

Jongin shakes his head. “When I married you, I promised to take care of you. That’s my job as a  man . I know the world is changing and I’m not saying you’re any less than me because you’re a woman but I  want to take care of you.”

 

She doesn’t argue even if she thinks if she worked more that it would help him feel less stressed. Maybe once Taeoh was a little older and didn’t need her at home all the time she would bring up the subject again. For now, she would agree to disagree with her husband. But she  does understand him. Sehee, herself, enjoys doing the wifely duties to take care of him as well. She adores cooking for him, cleaning, and allowing him to come home to a well taken care of house and child. It was a woman’s pride, she thinks, to be able to take care of her man when he supports her tenfold.

 

“I want to take care of you as well.” Sehee smiles faintly as she runs her hands through his dark hair. “And that means after dinner go to bed. You’re tired and look like you’re going to fall over. So no TV tonight.”

 

Jongin grins a little. “Yes ma’am.” He says knowing it would be no use to try to wiggle his way out of Sehee’s orders. If anything she might appear soft and feminine but Jongin had always loved her for her strong and independent personality. (He realizes she  must love him to allow him to take care of her, because she had always been a devout feminist.)

 

He finishes his dinner and when he tries to clean up she ushers him out. He does shower before falling into bed hearing the dishes clank in the kitchen from her cleaning. It’s hard to explain how  happy she makes him. He hadn’t always been this romantic minded person but once he saw Sehee for the first time among a group of her friends, he had naturally gravitated towards her orbit. Friends first, then a date or two, then a handful, and then Jongin properly asking her out. She was smart, beautiful, and caring- though she was also stubborn, prideful, and opinionated. He had loved each part of her completely.

 

She was the type of woman you  wanted to make your wife. They had argued plenty of times. They were both headstrong in their own ways. But ultimately they both wanted what was best for them. Back in university, Jongin had been so jealous of the guys flocking around her despite them dating. He wasn’t  stupid and he wasn’t the only guy who saw all the loveliness and potential in her. Jongin existed under the radar until he began dating Sehee. At the time he was just a skinny business major with thick framed glasses and a bad sense of fashion. Somehow, Sehee had accepted that all. Even with the other guys approaching her (he will never forgive the basketball player Chanyeol who later went on to the pros for flirting with her) she somehow didn’t see them. Maybe it was his boyish handsome smile or the fact his devotion was solely hers. Eventually he grew into a handsome man, one she could be proud of. (Jongin is stupid because Sehee has  always been proud of him.)

 

He feels the bed dip and turns to wrap an arm around his wife. She presses a feather light kiss to his face and he smiles back affectionately. Some guys get worried about marrying too soon or too early but Jongin could only wish they would have married quicker. The first among their friends to marry but also the ones predicted to last the longest. It surprised no one when they told the news- not even their parents.

 

“Sometimes I wonder what you saw in me back then.” Jongin says and Sehee smiles faintly.

 

“Someone passionate, handsome but fashionably misguided, someone sweet who talked a lot, someone who would love me more than anyone else and someone who I would love just as much.” she says wrapping her arms around his neck, moving in closely to rest her head against his shoulder.

 

The bedroom door opens and the couple parts as their son crawls up the bed with them, stuff animal in hand and his other hand rubbing his eyes as he nudges his way between his parents.

 

“Taeoh?” Jongin asks.

 

“Want to sleep with mama and dad. Nightmare.” He says as he places the bear in Jongin’s arms and nuzzles his mother. Sehee wraps her arm around the boy and smiles before pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

 

Jongin mimics the action with the bear when his son looks at his expectedly.

 

“You know,” Sehee says quietly, “What I saw in you Jongin was moments like this.” Her cheeks warming at the confession. She hadn’t ever told him- despite playing hard to get Sehee had adored Jongin from first sight. “I saw this future with you. A child we both love, us happily married- I saw  all of this in you. Rarely do those good guys show up but you’re the type of husband and father I envisioned all my life. I saw growing old with you. I saw being  happy with you.”

 

Jongin leans over and kisses her, unable to really help himself. “What do you see now?” Jongin asked as Taeoh shifts to look at his parents.

 

“I see the love of my life who has given me so much happiness.” Sehee says and grins. “Taeoh, when you grow up marry someone like your daddy okay? Someone who will make you happy no matter what.”

 

It’s quiet for a moment and Jongin suspects Taeoh might have fallen asleep but the words that breaks through the room make his chuckle.

 

“Don’t wanna’ marry- wanna’ stay with mama and dad forever. I’m happiest here.”

 

And Taeoh has certainly inherited Jongin’s sweet talking when Sehee squeals delighted. 

 


End file.
